The Polaris or the North Star is part of Ursa Minor’s tail and is located above the North Pole. Sailors and other people traveling at night have long used Polaris to tell which way is north.
There was once a shiny patch Of seven little stars She was called the Ursa Minor You couldn’t see her from afar
One day Father Chaos Came whooshing on a gale He plucked away the littlest star In Ursa Minor’s tail
The Little Bear felt wonky And then her head, it drooped Ursa Major huffed and puffed Her baby did not look good!
Mother Cosmos felt the pain In Ursa Major’s sighs She floated out the window Of her castle in the sky
“What do we have here now Ursa Minor’s lost a star? Oh skies of blue, that just won’t do! Let’s see now - Here you are!”
With that she waved a kindly hand And opened up her fist And dropped a sheeny shiny star The brilliant Polaris
Ursa Minor looked at her tail As it shone near and far Many a traveller now finds her way In the twinkle of her North Star
Golden Repair or Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver or platinum.
There was once a china mug He was some twelve years old He’d done a very good job Holding drinks both hot and cold
Over the years the china mug Had seen his share of strain His rim was chipped in two places He had permanent tea stains
But he was quite a trooper He never lost his smile Even when the bright new mugs Would tease him all the while
One day the lady of the house Was wiping down the sink Her hand hit the china mug And down he went crashing
He lay in five odd pieces Across the kitchen floor The lady picked them all up And put them in a drawer
Ten days later the other mugs Saw a creature most divine! A pretty china mug laced With lovely golden lines
It’s me the old china mug! He said smiling at their stares I’ve just been mended gently With love and Golden Repair
And so it is with old things Friendships, mugs and toys With love and care, gentle repair They bring constant joy
Happy to say that my infinite number of monkeys clacking away at a keyboard trying to produce a lucid piece of writing phase seems to have borne some fruit! Presenting to you my first children’s book: CURIOUS ANIMALS, A CLOUD, A FRUIT AND A FLOWER. This collection of poems comes straight from the funny, quirky cockles of the heart. With little stories ranging from the grumpy caterpillar, to the shy tomato, to how the okapi got its name, these short stories entertain, inform and also bring out a giggle or 4! Both, children and adults will enjoy this vibrantly illustrated, lyrical story-telling. Print copies will be available in Sri Lanka next week (hopefully!). I’m going to try and make them available in Pakistan soon too. The KINDLE e-version is currently available on Amazon at:
La de da de da, sang the Arum As she rustled her giant leaves It was her seventh birthday today And she was oh so very pleased!
She was feeling especially grand today As she nestled her very first bud She was going to flower any day A thing of beauty rising from the mud.
That night when the moon was high in the sky In the lush rainforest of Sumatra The Titan Arum sat in prideful state As her bud blossomed into flower
She giggled and shook her big big leaves Sending out waves of her special pong Her smell reminds some of smelly cheese Others of socks that have been worn too long!
The rotting smell is a sweet bouquet For dung beetles and flesh flies They settle onto the new bloom Inhaling her smells with happy sighs
The magnificent flower stays facing the sun A splash of burgundy red colour Its frilly edges rippling in the wind - An upturned bell on the forest floor.
Three days and nights the Arum flower blooms And then collapses onto the ground Its short life was one big adventure Of funky smells and insect sounds!
Seven years on, there will be a new bud For forty years this cycle will repeat But in between the hulking plant returns To its quiet life on its hillside steep.
In the rain forests of Nicaragua There’s the cutest little animal Always smiling, forever lounging He keeps his movements to a minimal
Even though he is quite blind And lives his life in slow motion He can remember all the place he goes He’s also the pull-up world champion!
He’s three times as strong as you and me And yet he eats only a leaf a month Smiling and blinking, hugging and napping He does only super slow things for fun
One day Slow Mo fell off his tree Remember, his movements are very slow He dropped down a hundred feet Crashing into the plants below
But lo and behold! He was whole Unhurt he crawled out of the brush It took him four days and twenty one hours To ever so slowly climb back up
He decided he didn’t like such adventures Because Slow Mo also had vertigo And as he was climbing he had an odd feeling That his ears had changed places with his toes!
But he made it back home, a smile on his face As he settled himself at the top of his tree He took three hours to pick a flower And once more began his slow motion feast
Mahvash Mohtadullah 